New Nelson Hospital chaplaincy initiative

12 April 2016

New Nelson Hospital chaplaincy initiative

An extension to the Nelson Hospital Chaplaincy service now enables patients moving from Nelson Hospital to retirement complexes to receive spiritual and emotional ministry.

The interdenominational Nelson Hospital Chaplaincy Support Group recently appointed Henk Lups to a Transition Ministry position. Lups will provide support to hospital patients who have been assessed for the first time as needing rest home or hospital level care on discharge from hospital.

Paul Tregurtha, a member of the Nelson Hospital Chaplaincy Committee says when hospital patients move from their private homes to a residence in a retirement
village complex it can be a very stressful and vulnerable time, often acccompanied by grief due to major losses in a person’s life.

“They may feel a loss of independence and control, separation from their home and possibly their spouse, loss of regular contact with neighbours and friends and loss of self esteem,” he says. “Such grief can express itself in sadness, anxiety, depression, loss of faith and even a sense of hopelessness.”

He says in many situations this may be complicated by an older person having few family or friends to support them.

Transition Chaplain Henk Lups, is already providing chaplaincy on a voluntary basis within Nelson Hospital, making pastoral visits and building relationships with patients who have been assessed for placement in retirement villages.

His new paid position will require him to work closely with multi disciplinary hospital staff including nurses, needs assessors and social workers, to ensure the patient receives the best possible holistic care.

Lups has been appointed initially for one year to provide ministry for up to 10 hours a week to patients who he will visit for a maximum six weeks after discharge from hospital.

A grant of $15,000 to fund one year for this Transition Ministry has been received from two local Methodist Church Trusts – the Snowden Trust and the Green Gables Trust, with approval from the Christchurch Methodist Central Mission and the Nelson Marlborough West Coast Methodist District Synod.

Paul Tregurtha says the Nelson Hospital Chaplaincy Support Group will continue to seek ongoing funds to ensure this new initiative continues into the future.

“Given our aging population, there will be an ever increasing need to provide ministry to elderly vulnerable patients whom Nelson Hospital assess as requiring placement in rest homes or hospitals within the many retirement villages in our district,” he says.

A Transition Ministry pilot project ran in 2014 under the guidance of the Nelson Hospital chaplain, the Reverend Yvonne McLean, with oversight from the Nelson Inter-Church Hospital Chaplaincy Committee. The pilot scheme recipients were very grateful for the assistance they received from the service and confirmed the need for the ministry.

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